Tag: Gratitude

Do you ever find yourself waking up to a train of thoughts about your day or your life? Does your mind race? Do these thoughts produce anxiety for you? Do you have thoughts something like I wish I didn’t start thinking this morning or I just want to go back to sleep?

We all have these thoughts as we start to wake up and start thinking about what we have to do, what is on or mind, or what we are currently worrying about. It’s common. The good news is that we can use this same technique of running thoughts to our advantage! Woo hoo!

What do I mean by this? Think of your thoughts like a train. They are moving and going from the next stop to the next or from thought to thought. They are moving and gaining momentum as they travel along. You get the idea.

So the easy thing to do is to change trains! Say STOP and then hop on the Gratitude Train. Start thinking of things to be grateful for. The bed you have to sleep in. That you opened your eyes one more time and you have been given another day on earth. That you have a job to go to. That you don’t have a job to go to. Be grateful for your dog or cat cuddled up beside you. The sounds of the birds chirping. Or the stillness. Or the feeling of your favorite sheets or blanket. ❤ That your heart is still beating. ❤ That the sun is shining. Or that the rain is refreshing the earth. That you can hear the rain…… etc. etc. etc. There are a zillion things you can find to be grateful for.

Once you get the gratitude train rolling you will start to feel better, your worry will fall away and best of all you will start to attract good things in your day and your life!

Also your smile 🙂 will be brighter and your heart ❤ will be happier and you will have a ripple effect on all of those that you encounter so even your relationships will improve. 🙂 It is a win-win any way you look at it.

Stress is the number one killer ... hands down. It affects every part of our being and our health and is a contributing factor to all disease in the body and mind. The best thing we can do to alleviate stress is to work at ramping up the positive and feel good side of our lives. Here are six ways to do that.

Be Grateful

An old Jewish saying recommends that we “bless one thousand things every day”. The more we bless the more we practice gratitude as well. They go hand and hand. From my own research, I have learned and believe, that Blessing something is the highest frequency available to us. Blessing something or someone really taps into the frequency of the highest vibration of all and has tremendous benefits.

Practice gratitude from the moment you arise in the morning until your head hits the pillow at night. Actively find things to be grateful for. The pillow beneath your head, the dishes you need to wash because you indeed have food to eat, the way you can walk by yourself to the bathroom… there are always things to find to be grateful for.

Be Aware Of Your Negative Thoughts

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention,
usually to your breath or your thoughts. Mindful breathing is often used to
control stress, but mindful thinking can lead to a more positive life. We tend
to take our thoughts for granted but they can still make a difference as they
float through our minds.

I am very mindful and careful of the thoughts I think and use. I totally get that thoughts are tools that can create or destroy. I pick very wisely.

I control my thoughts, they don’t control me

Maggie holbik

Introduce Positive Thoughts

The staff at The Mayo Clinic point out that just like our thoughts can upset us when we don’t notice them creeping up, but we can also purposely introduce thoughts that make ourselves feel better. Trying to replace negative thoughts from our subconscious with positive thoughts from our conscious mind can be a very valuable tool.

I encourage my clients who struggle with negative thoughts, to have handy, positive replacement thoughts that they can draw upon when needed. The most powerful type of replacement thought are ones that also induce immediate gratitude as well. For example, have a thought ready about how you love your child, or pet, or even your favorite sweater and how it warms you and comforts you! All positive thoughts count.

Avoid Negative

Just do it! If you truly want to be happier and to lower your stress, refuse to partake in negative experiences that you have control over. Stop watching the news, ditch the FB friends or friends that are chronic complainers who always are finding fault with the city, the government, the neighbor, the etc. etc. etc. Who has time for this if they are trying to be stress free and happier? For me, I choose JOY! I say it over and over again and you will see it is a common thread in my blogging as well. I shout it from the rooftops “I CHOOSE JOY AND PEACE”!!!!! 🙂

Look At Challenges As Opportunities

An article by author Paul Sloane published by Lifehack.org recommends looking at potential challenges or setbacks as opportunities to go in another direction. We tend to look at where we are as the culmination of a lot of hard work and so when things don’t go our way we feel like that work was for nothing. What if we looked at it in a different way? I offer you the thought that we have choices and choices mean change. We can always re-choose, re-group and decide again and we do this by looking at where we came from, or where we currently are, and then re-adjusting our direction because we realize we nowchoosedifferently. There are no mistakes, just experiences and experiences lead us to the new ones by helping us to discern the next step for us!

Spend Time In “Input
Mode”

A 2016 article by Inc. points out that we are either in “input” mode or “output” mode. Output mode is when we are doing things for others, or making things, like when we are at work or doing things for our family and friends. Input mode is when we are doing things for ourselves like reading books, exercise, listening to positive materials and such. We can become overwhelmed and resentful when we spend too much time in output mode and not enough time practicing self-care and doing things to make us feeling fulfilled, so be sure to incorporate positive inbound activities that make you feel good and supported.

Today while messaging a client I came out with a new phrase and thought I would make a new category for it over here at my blog. “Gratitude Pop”. I love it! These can also be called “Joy Pops”, which I love too.

Here is where the gratitude pop stemmed from today.

It is my client’s birthday and she sent me this picture of what she found on the table this morning from her son. I said to her that her heart must be bursting and she said “YES!”

It is such a good feeling to have a pop or burst of gratitude. The new show “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” uses the term ‘Spark Joy’ for keeping items that you absolutely love and cherish. Whatever we call them, they are awesome indeed, and very well something worth focusing on and looking for throughout our day. Think of them like bursts of joy, pleasure and an indicator of something that makes your heart and soul happy. 🙂

This morning I had my own gratitude pop when I saw that the sun was once again rising,on this cold January day in Canada.

What about you? Can you start to add to your Gratitude Pop list throughout your day? Maybe it simply starts with the fact that there is another day. Not everyone will wake up tomorrow to another day sadly, but true. Or maybe you get a Joy Pop when you look at your pet sleeping so cutely and looking so peaceful.

Whatever way you find them, I hope you find lots of Gratitude Pops, Joy Pops, bursts of ‘Spark Joy’, and that many smiles cross both your face and heart today and everyday!

Maggie Holbik.com is a Certified Life Coach and Board Certified Nutritionist who loves life, laughter, and finding JOY in each and everyday. She purposely looks for and seeks JOY. In fact, truth be told she’s a JOY Junkie and she’s okay with that 🙂

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I was having a text messaging conversation with a coaching client this morning and the topic of being grateful came up. I thought voila, here is my blog post for today.

Many of us struggle with making the shift from ‘waiting for the axe to fall’, which tricks us into not being in a state of grace and gratitude, to fulling embracing the gift of having and being in gratitude and grace.

Gratitude is a state of being, an energetic force that has enormous potential. I thought I would share what my client said to me and what I shared back because I am sure that we can all relate to this, either now or at some point in our lives.

Client: “Yah it’s deeply tied into disappointment for me and not getting what I want. Don’t think about it, acknowledge it, or dream about it and then you’ll never get hurt”.

Me: “Ya, that’s one of the classic self-sabotages of all time, the old waiting for the axe to fall 😊

Our conversation went on and I shared about ways, like this, that we give our power away to outside sources and this is definitely one of them. I reminded my client that what we seek, seeks us and what we love, loves us. Gratitude is just like that. Being grateful puts that attracting/seeking/aligning energy out there so that we can attract more of what we desire. When we love our life it can truly loves us back and bring us more of that which we love! 😊 This is so exciting and the awesome thing is there is always, always, something to be grateful for. Gratitude is a like a muscle, the more we use it, the easier it gets and the bigger it gets. Bring on the GRATITUDE muscle!!

I am sitting here in Hawaii, typing this, the sun is shining on my face, the wind is gently blowing and toying with my hair, and as I look up I see Diamond Head. Diamond Head Crater is an absolutely beautiful site on the island of Oahu. It sits majestically above the shores of Waikiki, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and is a destination for many who visit the island and those who live there as well.

Now you might say that sure it’s easy for you Maggie you are in Hawaii and I am wherever you are today at work, I’m sick, I got a flat tire today, or what have you. Yes, I am in a beautiful spot right now making gratitude flow extra easy today, however, I am also finding gratitude in the simple things like the pillow I found to put under my laptop, the lemon I found at the ABC store around the corner, for my warm lemon water, the fact that there are ABC stores on every corner lol, that I am inspired to write this morning, and on and on it goes. There are so many things we can find to be grateful for and when we do, it shifts our frequency to a state of appreciation and love. With appreciation and love comes kindness to oneself and the world, so if nothing else do it for the team. 😊

“Love is the way I walk in gratitude”. A Course in Miracles

Maggie Holbik.com is a Certified Life Coach and Certified Nutritionist who enjoys helping people to shift from Fear to Love and to help people to find their Grace through Gratitude. She reminds you to never forget that what you seek, seeks YOU! Blessings!

Like this:

Thoughts are things and thoughts are what we use to create. We create art, we create tables, chairs, houses, cars, color patterns and schemes, poetry, music…. etc. etc. etc. All of these creations start with a THOUGHT.

The fastest path to having the life you want is to realize this ASAP, PRONTO…. aka RIGHT NOW! I am grateful to have tapped into this many years ago and it has been the most powerful catalyst for creating a life of Joy, Happiness and Love.

So here is a tip to help you with your run on negative thoughts. You may have been taught to say something like “Cancel” or “Stop”. However, there is a much better and more effective technique that I have used for years.

Here you go….. Just ‘replace the thought’. Yep, it’s that simple. If you start thinking something like “I’m no good or I’m no good at this”…. etc., just stop and switch your thought verses trying to cancel or stop your thought. Pop a new thought right in there. Think of something you are good at and start thinking that. Or, if you struggle with that, completely switch gears and change the whole thought theme. For example, just switch to thinking about something you are grateful for like your cat, dog, child, that you don’t have a serious illness, that you CAN go for a walk (some people cannot), whatever. There is always something to be grateful for!

Okay I hope this helps and remember even though it sounds simple enough, it is very, very, very powerful and it’s like a muscle the more you use it the more powerful it becomes. 🙂

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When the opportunity arose the other day, I snapped this picture , which I consider adorable, to say the least. I was thinking I should use this in a blog post and then got to thinking… every time I look at it my heart swells with gratitude so I will write about gratitude and share some easy hacks I have found to add more gratitude into our lives.

Hack #1

Pets! Pets are the easiest, fastest and #1 way to shift one into a frequency of gratitude. When they greet you with unbridled exuberance and are jumping for joy to see you, it’s pretty hard not to feel grateful for their presence. Wouldn’t you agree? 🙂

My little Bella, who is in this picture, patiently waits for me every morning to do yoga together. Seriously! My yoga usually starts with a short conscious relaxation segment and Bella lies on top of me. When I get to the part that says “touch one hand to your solar plexus and one hand to your heart”, I usually change it to “Touch one hand to your cat and one hand to your heart”. It works for me ha ha. 🙂 Bella likes it too!

Pets are full of unconditional love and they display it often and well. Gratitude and Love are two matching frequencies and they are really one in the same so the more we can tap into the frequency of gratitude, the more love we let into our lives and the world. And let’s face it, that’s probably a darn good idea isn’t it?

Hack #2

Place things into your space that trigger feelings of well-being and gratitude. The pillow in the top picture says it all. “Love is in my home’. It reminds me every time I see it to remember what is really important to me. It also makes me think of the good friend who gave me this pillow for my 50th birthday. Thinking of her always puts a big smile on my face.

I also use pictures and artwork that make me happy and remind me of the beauty in life, like this one.

When I look at this throughout my day, I am reminded that life is good, that there is beauty when I look for it. Even looking at this picture of my picture brings me Joy! Especially when I see the sun dancing in it… extra Joy Pop!

Here is another example of how I incorporate messages and reminders for gratitude and beauty and joy into life. I have several cups that I like to use with beautiful sayings on them.

So not only is this cup reminding me to have a great day, but the green smoothie inside will bring joy and gratitude to every cell of my body, especially after it is charged with these empowering words. How awesome is that?

It is important to remember, that EVERYTHING is energy and has a frequency to it. Be sure to put into your environment, things that make you feel good and remind you of all that you have to be grateful for. There is always something to see if you will look. 🙂

Maggie Holbik.com is a Life Coach and Natural Nutrition Clinical Practitioner who LOVES LIFE and loves helping others to LOVE LIFE!

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I would like to learn more about Maggie's services and how she might be able to help me to live life more Joyously and with Gratitude for all that I have so that I can attract more of that into my life.

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Take time to appreciate your surroundings and all that is in it. May we all notice with delight the wonderful things that people place in our world for us to enjoy. There are truly many, many gifts and magic all around us! We need only look and appreciate…..